Articles
(or thoughts I remembered to write down)
Laravel 7 Application Testing: Let's Start With Something Small
I have been working on a side project for quite some time now. The application is coming out really well, at least I believe so. To make sure that I am not coding a hot pile of garbage, I think some unit and feature testing is in order.
Tutorial: Flexible Modal with AlpineJS and TailwindCSS
For years, I relied on Bootstrap for all my modal needs. I would copy that ridiculous modal boilerplate, pull in Bootstrap JS, and be "happy" with the results. Looking back, I feel like I just settled.
Laravel 7 Application Testing: Explain This To Me Like I'm Five (part 1)
I have a deep, dark secret... I have been a web developer for over 10 years and I have never written a unit test. I know, I know... how could I have allowed this to happen!?
Focusing Down: Implementing Laravel Livewire Infinitely Reduced Page Load
For several years now, there has been a trend that looks good at first, but over time tends to really gum up applications and annoy developers... Dashboards. I'm not talking about simple dashboards that focus on one area of the business, like call center metrics or sales trends. I'm talking about the "I want to see everything at all times so let me see how many boxes I can fit on a single page" dashboards. The "I want a birds-eye view of my entire business and please make it work on mobile so I can check on every operation at all times" dashboard.
Tech Stack Philosophy: Lightening The Client
I am not a jQuery hater, but with the recent evolution in javascript, keeping it as a dependency was unnecessary. At the moment, the user's computer was taking on a decent amount of the load and logic. We knew it was important to move that away from the user.
Imposter Syndrome: Laravel Blog vs Wordpress
I have been a web developer for a bit over ten years now and to this day I struggle with believing that I am a Senior Developer. Maybe it's just me, but at least once a year, I google what is the difference between a senior developer and a junior developer.
Tutorial: Responsive Navigation with AlpineJS and TailwindCSS
Making a dropdown menu or expandable with AlpineJS is crazy simple. Putting together a navigation bar with TailwindCSS is absolute cake. But then you turn your attention to your sites' responsiveness and the mobile experience and that is when you have to do some mental gymnastics.
Looking Past Technical Debt
A one size fits all definition does not exist when describing the personality of a software developers. Though hard to believe, developers are regular people. Some enjoy the sun and outdoors while others hiss at the sun while emerging from their caves.